


A Little Fall of Rain

by kaleidobubble



Category: RWBY
Genre: Childhood Memories, Dancing in the Rain, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Married Life, Post-Canon, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidobubble/pseuds/kaleidobubble
Summary: One particularly stormy night, Ren finds his wife dancing in the rain. Naturally, fluff ensues.
Relationships: Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 10
Kudos: 37





	A Little Fall of Rain

A crackle of thunder jolts Ren awake from his dreamless slumber. His hand reaches out in the darkness for his wife’s, seeking comfort and warmth, and is disappointed to find only the cold sheets. 

Sitting up now, he glances about the room, finding himself entirely alone, the covers on Nora’s side of the bed drawn back.

Ren fights the slight tremor of panic rising in his throat. She’d probably just gotten up to get a drink of water or use the bathroom. There was no reason for needless worrying.

_Be reasonable,_ he tells himself.

Sitting alone in the stillness of the room, he gives it a few more minutes before another, louder clap of thunder rips through the sky, accompanied by a flash of lightning. 

_Alright, reasonableness be danged._

Ren slides out of bed and begins searching through the house calling for her in each room.

No answer comes.

He tries turning on a light but it doesn’t so much as flicker. The power is out, he realizes. _Crap_.

One more clap of thunder echoes outside, and what must’ve been a slight drizzle of rain before, comes pouring down hard, sounding like a band of cavalry thundering atop the roof.

Ren’s seconds away from full on panicking now before a moving figure in the window catches his eye.

There, outside in the pouring rain is Nora, dancing and twirling in their yard, eyes and mouth wide open with glee as she attempts to catch raindrops on her tongue 

Huffing a small sigh of relief, Ren hurries outside onto the porch, calling her again.

She whirls around to greet him, dripping wet in her nightclothes and turquoise eyes sparkling.

“Ren look!” She cheers, “It’s finally raining!”

She spins again, droplets from her hair splattering at him

It was true, Mistral had been stuck in a drought for nearly a year now. Rain this past winter had been scarce and spring hadn’t been looking much better. Until now.

  
  


“So it is” he smiles fondly, relishing in the view of his beloved so unabashedly happy. 

For Ren, there was never a more welcome sight than when Nora felt safe and happy enough to throw caution and common sense to the wind and simply do whatever she darn well pleased. Yes, at times, keeping up with her was utterly exhausting, but her joy was infectious, her spirit burned brighter than any fire he’d ever seen, and her smile was something he would never grow tired of, not in a million years.

The first time she’d decided to go out into a storm and dance like this, they’d been no more than eleven years old. They were still staying at an old orphanage on the edge of the city. 

Up until this point, dark and stormy nights reminded them both far too much of the night they’d met. Too shrouded in fear, loud noises, and horrific memories to spend doing anything but huddling together in Ren’s bed in the corner of the room, whispering comforting words to one another until the winds ceased to pound the frail orphanage walls like an angry beowolf.

  
  


But that very first time Nora had taken a look out the window, and rather than shrinking back in fear, let a fierce look of determination settle on her small features, he’d watched as she climbed out the window, splashing into the mud and began dancing in the rain.

The lively sparkle flashing in her eyes as her choppy orange hair swayed in the wind, sticking to her cheeks, was a sight he’d never forget.

Moments later, she paused and turned back to the window, beckoning him to join her.

“C’mon Ren! It’s not so scary, this is fun,” she called.

She held out her hand to help him down from the window, and despite a flood of worries about what the staff or headmistress were to say if they were caught outside past curfew in the rain, he took her hand and jumped, joining her outside, running around, splashing through the mud, laughing as they went. 

It was the happiest, most alive and carefree Ren had ever seen her, and he felt his little heart swell with pride.

  
  


The terrified little shell of a girl he’d met on the streets of Kuroyuri was slowly beginning to peel away to reveal someone with a special, infallible spirit who found light within her no matter how many times the world tried to snuff it out. And she shared that same light with anyone and everyone who would let her.

She invited the other children, still hovering near the window, to come join them, and there they all danced for gods knew how long, splashing and spinning and catching raindrops on their tongues until the orphanage staff inevitably came to find them.

Surprisingly, they hadn’t seemed to mind all too much, tutting them lightly about catching a cold in the weather before drying them off and sending them off to bed. And so, the memory remained untainted.

“Well, silly, are you just gonna stand there enjoying the view or are you gonna dance with me?”

Nora’s teasing tone snaps Ren out of his reverie and back into present day. His face startling back to attention.

She giggles at his dumbfounded expression before extending her hand to him and curtsying slightly.

“May I have this dance?” she asks playfully.

“But of course,” Ren replies with an equally cheeky grin of his own.

He takes her hand just as she yanks him out into the rain, laughing and singing off key.

They waltz across the lawn and he spins her around, raindrops showering in intricate, circular patterns all around her, her laughter clear and bright, and oh so beautiful.

And echoing somewhere in the background, Ren can hear his own laughter joining hers.

When he brings her back to him, breathless and starry-eyed, and turquoise eyes gleaming in the moonlight, she loops her arms around his neck, smiling tenderly.

“I love you,” she says softly.

It’s cliché, but Ren’s heart leaps in his chest and he’s certain he’s fallen in love with her all over again. Struggling for the ability to speak he asks, “Would it be too cliché of me to kiss you right now?”

Nora makes a contemplative face.

“Probably,” she shrugs. “But, I’d like it if you did anyway.”

Needing no further invitation, Ren loops his arms around her waist and pulls her flush against him, capturing her lips. They taste of peppermint and springtime rain, and everything he’s ever loved. And as Nora returns the kiss, she pours just as much of that love back into it.

When they break apart, Nora’s cheeks are flushed bright pink and another clap of thunder booms overhead accompanied by a bolt of lightning ripping across the sky.

As much as he never wanted to leave this moment, Ren isn’t quite sure he wants to reenact the Crazy Thursday incident tonight. So before Nora can get the idea, he reaches to intertwine his fingers with hers.

“We should probably head inside,” he suggests.

Nora nods and the two walk hand in hand back into the house.

To Ren’s relief the power comes back on, and after a quick towel-dry and a change of clothes, they find themselves sitting back on their bed.

“I dunno about you, but I’m wide awake. I don’t think I’m gonna get back to sleep anytime soon,” Nora says, flopping backwards into the mattress 

“Me neither,” her husband admits.

“Wanna make hot chocolate and watch scary movies till we fall asleep?”

“Nora,” Ren raises an eyebrow at her. “You know if we watch a scary movie during a thunderstorm, you won’t be able to sleep for a week. And we have a mission next week.”

“Fineee,” she groans. “Action thriller?”

Ren nods. “That’d be better. I’ll do the hot chocolate and you set up the movie?”

“Sure!” Nora perks up. “But I want marshmallows on mine!”

Ren chuckles as he stands up and heads toward the kitchen. “Sounds like a plan.”

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to my dear friend PaperRebellion over on Ff.net whose been trading Renora fluff with me for the past couple weeks and challenged me to write this at 2 am! I've never tried to just write, write, write without vastly overthinking it first and it's definitely been fun. I completed this in about 45 minutes when it would normally take me at least a day.
> 
> Titled after the Les Mis lyric that served as the inspiration for this piece, though the actual plot of this is nearly the exact opposite of the song.
> 
> Thank you so very much for reading and I hope you have a safe and lovely day! Comments and constructive criticism would be very much appreciated! <3


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